Mechanism hanger for wire rope



April 14, 1964 T. R. SOWDER MECHANISM HANGER FOR WIRE ROPE Filed Feb. 19, 1962 TONY RSOWDER IN V EN TOR.

United States Patent 3,128,722 MECHANISM HANGER FOR WIRE ROPE Tony R. Sowder, N. 1231 Washington, Spokane, Wash. Filed Feb. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 174,142 4 Claims. (Cl. 104-201) The present invention relates broadly to the field of wire ropes and means for securing mechanisms thereto and more particularly is directed to an improved mechanism hanger for wire ropes.

In tramways of the type used for transporting materials or passengers from place to place, wire ropes are employed to form flights with a single cable trained about suitable pulleys to provide two flights of cable spaced transversely from each other and then mechanisms are suspended on the moving cable for transportation from point to point. For example, materials handling buckets or passenger chairs, an example of the latter of which is disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,237,735 of April 8, 1941.

The principal object of the present invention lies in the provision of an improved one-piece mechanism hanger which may be attached to a wire rope at any desired point along its length without the use of additional fastening members of any kind and is an improvement over the aforementioned patent. To this end, the mechanism hanger for wire rope is provided with a portion which is adapted to be intertwined with a number of strands of the wire rope in such a way that the body of the hanger will extend perpendicular to the axis of the cable thus presenting a portion to which a mechanism of the desired type may be secured.

It will be readily understood that the principal object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which is very simple in construction of one piece and therefore one which is not liable to become inoperative for any reason.

In the accompanying drawings I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the present invention. However, it is to be understood that the drawings are exemplary only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention beyond that specifically recited in the appended claims. Like numerals are employed to designate similar parts throughout the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic line drawing showing a passenger chair supported on a wire rope;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of my improved one-piece hanger;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view slightly reduced from FIGURE 2 and showing the improved one-piece hanger associated with a section of wire rope;

FIGURE 4 is an end elevation of the one-piece hanger; and

FIGURE 5 is a line drawing showing the method of applying the hanger to a strand of the wire rope.

Having reference now more particularly to the drawing in detail, the numeral indicates in its entirety a wellknown monocable tramway which includes a wire rope 12 to which one or any number of mechanism hangers 14 may be secured in a manner subsequently described.

It will be noted that, customarily, the wire rope 12 is provided with a plurality of twisted wire strands 16 which conventionally are wound about a core 18 which may be wire or other material for example, hemp rope. As viewed in FIGURE 3 of the drawing, the wire strands 16 (each of which may be made up of a plurality of smaller wires) are wound clockwise in a helicoidal manner. The hanger 14 may vary in dimensions to suit the particular wire rope 12 to which it is adapted to be attached and therefore, the dimensions are not constant but are relative to the size of wire rope employed. The hanger 14 therefore is constructed from a material of a strength adequate for the purpose to which it is directed when the sizes are reduced commensurate with the size of the wire rope with which it will be associated.

The hanger 14 is provided with a body 20, the top of which is seen in FIGURE 2 and the bottom of which is seen in FIGURE 3. The bottom has a relieved portion 22 to insure its clearance over the conventional mechanisms (not shown) of the tramway. At one end, the body is provided with a sectional bar 24 which is substantially circular in cross-section and may be of a peripheral dimension substantially co-equal with the peripheral dimension of the core 18 of the wire rope 12 with which the hanger 14 is intended to be used and which has a first section 26 and a second section 28 separated by a space 30.

The space is of a size to conveniently pass a single strand 16 of wire rope 12 between the sections 26 and 28 as indicated in FIGURE 5 of the drawing. It will also be noted that the space is defined by substantially parallel faces 32-32 which are disposed on planes angularly related to the axis of the bar 24. This angle may be 45 from the axis of the bar but is not necessarily limited to this precise angle since the reason for the angle, as will be subsequently clarified, is to prevent accidental removal of the strand 16 from between the bar sections 26 and 28.

Each of the bar sections is rigidly united to the body 20 by means of a web 34 or 36. The webs are angularly disposed relative to and spaced from each other at an angle substantially equal to the pitch of helical strands 16 in such manner as to permit them to extend between the helicoidal strands of a wire rope and are of a thickness suificient in strength and yet minimum in size to reduce to a minimum the distortion of the peripheral dimension of the rope when the webs 34 and 36 are disposed between selected pairs of strands 16 with the sectional bar 24 displacing at least a portion of the core 18.

In some instances, it may be well to remove a sufficient section of the core 18 to cause the sectional bar 24 to replace the core. However, in other instances, the bar 24 may be of small enough size that the core need not be completely removed, but only displaced by the bar 24. In the appended claims, I employ the terms replaced or displaced interchangeably to include either the complete removal of a section of the core 18 or merely displacing it from its original position sutficiently to receive the bar 24, and do not desire to be limited to one or the other by the use of these terms.

It will therefore be seen that for all practical purposes the webs 34 and 36 are substantially in spaced parallel offset planes, which planes are common to the juncture between adjacent strands 16 of a wire rope 12.

To apply the mechanism hanger for a wire rope, it is only necessary to twist the wire rope in a direction opposite to the helicoidal twisting of the several strands 16 thus separating them suificiently to permit one strand to be inserted through the space 30 while the hanger 14 is disposed substantially with respect to said one strand as shown in full line of FIGURE 5, whereupon the hanger 14 is rotated to the broken line position of FIGURE 5 and its accidental removal prohibited by means of the projections 3838 on the bar sections 26 and 28 by reason of the angle of the faces 32 from the axis of the sectional bar 24 being greater than the angle of the webs 34 and 36. Of course, it Will be understood that the substantially parallel faces 32 are not necessarily required, since any space only sufiicient to receive the strand 16 will suiiice and then projections of another sort may extend from the bars 28 to prevent the accidental removal.

The body 14 in the species disclosed includes for illustration and not limitation, a spindle 40, upon which the sleeve 42 of a passenger chair standard 44 may be Patented Apr. 14, 1964 mounted and secured by a pin (not shown) being disposed in the diamctrical aperture 46.

Having thus described my invention, I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States the following:

1. A hanger for wire rope, comprising:

a body (20);

a straight sectional bar (24) of a size and configuration to displace the core of a wire rope without materially distorting the peripheral dimension of said rope;

said bar having a space (30) of a size to pass one strand of a wire rope therethrough; and

a web (34-36) rigidly fixing each section (26-48) of said bar to said body and disposed at an angle therewith substantially equal to the pitch of helicoidal strands of a wire rope with a minimum distortion of the peripheral dimensions of said rope.

2. The invention defined in claim 1 and further characterized by:

said space being defined by substantially parallel spaced opposed faces (32) in said bar and disposed at an angle from the axis of said bar different than the angular disposition of said webs; and defining retaining projections (38) adapted to preclude accidental removal of a wire-rope strand through said separation.

3. A one-piece mechanism hanger for wire rope, comprising:

a body (20);

plural webs (34-46) fixed with respect to said body and disposed at an angle substantially equal to the pitch of helicoidal strands of a wire rope and spaced both circumferentially and axially to interfit with the strands of said rope;

a coaxial sectional bar (24) having one section (26-28) fixed at the outer extremity of each of said webs and of a size and shape to replace the core of a wire rope without materially distorting its peripheral dimension; and

the said sections being spaced from each other sufficiently to pass one strand of a wire rope therebctween.

4. The invention defined in claim 3 and acterized by:

projections (38) on said bar segments and disposed to preclude accidental removal of a strand of wire through said space.

further char- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 568,452 McCallum Sept. 29, 1896 569,228 Painter Oct. 13, 1896 779,640 Chandler Jan. 10, 1905 783,631 Greger Feb. 28, 1905 

1. A HANGER FOR WIRE ROPE, COMPRISING: A BODY (20); A STRAIGHT SECTIONAL BAR (24) OF A SIZE AND CONFIGURATION TO DISPLACE THE CORE OF A WIRE ROPE WITHOUT MATERIALLY DISTORTING THE PERIPHERAL DIMENSION OF SAID ROPE; 